Dororo

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For the fictional character from the anime/manga Sgt. Frog/Sergeant Keroro refer to Dororo (Sgt. Frog).

Dororo
どろろ (Dororo)
Genre	Adventure, Historical, Shounen, Supernatural
Manga
Authored by	Osamu Tezuka
Publisher	Shogakukan, Inc.
Serialized in	Shonen Sunday
Original run	27 August 1967 – 22 July 1968
No. of volumes	?
TV anime : Dororo and Hyakkimaru
Directed by	Gisaburō Sugii
Studio	Fuji TV, Mushi Productions
Network	Fuji TV
Original run	April 6, 1969 – September 28, 1969
No. of episodes	26

Dororo (Japanese: どろろ) is a manga series from the well-known Japanese manga artist Osamu Tezuka in the late 1960s. The anime television series (1969) based on the manga consists of 26 half-hour episodes.

During the late 1960s, manga with hobgoblins was popular among children. Dororo was serialized in "Shukan Shonen Sunday" for three years.

"Dororo" itself is a sound-effect; popularly the near-inaudible sound of a Ninja or other mystical person disappearing.

Contents 1 Plot 2 Adaptations 2.1 Video game 2.2 Live-action film 3 Trivia 4 External links

[edit] Plot

The story takes place in Japan during the Sengoku period, or the Warring States period. Forty-eight major demons, known as majins (lit. demon gods), sense the impending birth of a powerful human, who will grow up to be the vanquisher of demonkind.

The forty-eight majins make a deal with the samurai Kagemitsu Daigo--who is the father of the yet-unborn child--wherein Daigo pledges forty-eight body parts of his unborn son to the majins, receiving in return the majins' guarantee that Kagemitsu will be unbeatable in any warfare and become the lord protector of the entire Japan. Indeed, the boy is born without forty-eight body parts; Kagemitsu puts the neonate in a basket and floats him down a river.

Fortunately the infant is rescued by a physician named Jukai who, over the period of many years, devises many cunning prosthetics so that the boy--named Hyakkimaru (lit. One Hundred Ogre Boy) by Jukai--can function like a normal person. Also Hyakkimaru has many supernatural powers which allow him to see, talk, and hear, despite having no eyes, mouth, or ears.

Upon reaching adulthood, Hyakkimaru embarks on a journey to vanquish the forty-eight majins and reclaim his body parts; he is soon joined by Dororo, a precocious street urchin and self-styled "greatest thief in all of Japan." Together, Hyakkimaru and Dororo travels the feudal Japan, helping the oppressed people and defeating the demons, in the hope that one day Hyakkimaru will win back all his body parts from the forty-eight majins.

[edit] Adaptations

[edit] Video game

Developer Sega made a Dororo-based video game for the PlayStation 2 console in 2004. It was released in the USA and Europe under the title Blood Will Tell. The game's artwork was done by renowned manga artist Hiroaki Samura.

[edit] Live-action film

Dororo is currently being made into a live-action film starring Kou Shibasaki and Satoshi Tsumabuki. It is being filmed in New Zealand and will be released in 2007.

[edit] Trivia

• Hyakkimaru has concealed weapons in his prosthetic arms and legs.

• Osamu Tezuka actually never completed the serialization of Dororo. Thus, the manga's plot is incomplete; however, Sega's game offers an hypothetical conclusion of the story.

[edit] External links

• Dororo File on the 1968 series pilot on the official Tezuka site.
• Dororo File on the Dororo anime on the official Tezuka site.
• Dororo File on the Dororo manga on the official Tezuka site.
• Dororo.jp Official website for the Dororo live-action film (Japanese).
• Dororo (anime series) at Anime News Network's Encyclopedia.
• Dororo (manga) at Anime News Network's Encyclopedia.